Is the question, can you do this and still get results? The answer to that question is, of course. That begs another question though, if you are going to spray the lawn for weeds, why aren't you just tank mixing your fert with that and doing it in one pass?

I don't currently have a large tank for applying the fert. I have a small sprayer (25 gal) that is 3 point hitch mounted to my garden tractor. With that tank, thought I would be spending more time filling than applying product. Just getting into this part of the business this year even though I have been caring for my own lawn for several years. Which brings me to my next question....
What is the best sprayer (hose and reel) for the money? Any suggestions?

There are quite a few good tanks out there. Some of those companies that I am familiar with may not be in your area though. One company that I'm sure is Lesco. They have a pretty good variety and selection.

One recommendation, regardless of how many lawns you have right now, buy for the future, not right now. You may only have enough lawns for a 50 gallon tank now, but in 2-3 years you will hopefully have enough for a 200 gallon. Why spend $3000 2-3 years later on top of the $2000 you spent now, when you can spend an extra 1000 now and provide for the future?

I would agree that a 200 gallon skid is probably the best idea for purchase, but that depends on the weight carrying capacity of your truck. You can always mount it to a trailer, but again, tow capacity comes into play and now you also have the weight and storage of the trailer to contend with. I would say that most pro setups for lawn run hannay electric reels, 6-1 over anything else, along with hypro pumps about 4-1 over udor pumps and diaprhagm models being 30-1 over any other style. Usually powered by small engines in the 5-6 horse range. hondas and briggs being the most common. Before the tree guys jump in with their 20gpm pumps and 10 hp motors, let me remind you this is a lawn setup. Lesco, Westheffer, Gregson Clark are just a couple of companies selling spray setups and even northern tool has a lower budget model with a cox reel on it. You can, of course, have one built by the local ag shop and you can even choose electric pump versions. Loads of choices, try to envision what you will do with it and that should lead you toward what you will actually need.

We recently picked up a Lesco 50 gal with a 200' hose (manual) for $1799 out the door. We've run this little bugger ragged and it still starts on the first pull. The only design flaw I can see is that the gas tank is hard to access with the reel mounted over it. Still, it's a bloody good sprayer if you're just getting started, big enough to do an acre, and small enough not to bust your axle. Once you've got the vehicle, then the 200 gal is the way to go.

We recently picked up a Lesco 50 gal with a 200' hose (manual) for $1799 out the door. We've run this little bugger ragged and it still starts on the first pull. The only design flaw I can see is that the gas tank is hard to access with the reel mounted over it. Still, it's a bloody good sprayer if you're just getting started, big enough to do an acre, and small enough not to bust your axle. Once you've got the vehicle, then the 200 gal is the way to go.

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Garth

I have two of the Lesco 50 gallon sprayers mounted on a trailer. I use them for the custom mix jobs and generally keep one tanked for citrus trees because of the large number of them in my area.

The point I would like to make is the value and versatility of these 50 gallon sprayers. By adding a 200 gallon tank and a marine bilge pump you can make a drop tank set up out of any Pick up truck able to carry the weight. These in fact could be slide in and out of the truck. In fact a trailer with the same set up or a trailer with the 50 and a 200 higher in the truck bed for filling it. I have used the Heck out of both my 50 gallon skid sprayer for those odd ball jobs so I didn't have to re tank my main truck. BTW I have remounted the hose reels to the right side on the trailer for ease of pulling and of course can fill the gas tank a lot easier. The only problem I find with them is the GPM if I am to do high volume spraying with is rare with the way I use them. Both My sprayer are the older D 19 Pump from Hyrpo and They were not the best pump for being maintenance free. I have to rebuild them quite often. The new model no longer come with the D 19 and in Fact Hypro has stopped making that pump. The replacement pump will fit the D 19 Gear drive but the cost differences in replacing the D 19 is not worth keeping the old gear drive.

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Thanks for all the feedback. Not sure if I want to put the skid in the truck or not as I don't want the hose to drag on the paint as it is reeled in/out. Does anyone have this problem? I am very picky about appearance of our vehicles and equipment. I've had people ask if I got a new mower every year and I can proudly say that I've had the same tractor for 4 years.

My truck is definitely heavy enough to handle a 200 gal tank skid, it's a 1 ton truck. I've had over 3K lbs in it before and it was just starting to touch the overload springs.

depending on your mix(my typical mix weighs 11.2 lbs per gal), a 200 gallon tank with the weight of the skid frame, reels, engine, pump and hose can quickly close in on the 3000 #, so keep that in mind. AS far as hose drag on the truck itself, most side mount reels are mounted high enough and out enough to clear your truck bed as they reel. However, that does not mean a little gun banging or even leaks down the side of your truck will not happen, especially if any employee handles the equipment. In pickup mounts, I always used a spray in bed liner(the drop in style will rust your bed completely through in this application) and bed caps. When the bed caps started showing their wear, swap in a new one. The bed sides had vinyl signage on that allowed most stuff to come off easily, but still used superclean plenty of times and repainted trucks every 3-4 years. If that bothers you, stuff it on a trailer with an axle that is rated for the weight of the tank you want to use.